BGU Physics Department

Colloquium, Jan 9th, 2014

Simulating Quantum Field Theories on a Quantum Computer

Stephen Jordan, NIST

Quantum field theory reconciles quantum mechanics and special
relativity, and plays a central role in many areas of physics. For
conventional "classical" computers, calculation of particle scattering
amplitudes in quantum field theory becomes exponentially difficult in the
cases of strong coupling or many particles. In contrast, we find that strong
coupling and large particle number do not present barriers for efficient
computation of scattering amplitudes on a quantum computer. In this talk I
will describe algorithms developed jointly with Keith Lee and John Preskill
by which quantum computers, once built, can simulate relativistic particle
scattering exponentially faster than conventional computers. Prior knowledge
of quantum algorithms will not be assumed.